Dean DeLeo Says He's Still Reeling from Bennington, Weiland Deaths

posted by Andrew Magnotta -

Stone Temple Pilots guitarist Dean DeLeo says heartache from the deaths of Chester Bennington and Scott Weiland is still fresh.

The guitarist spoke openly about the two tragic deaths in a new interview.

"I think it was more of a personal thing than a professional thing," DeLeo told The Sacramento Bee. "The tragedies between each person, being Scott and Chester, were very different as well. Scott was in a very long-term decline."

Bennington joined Stone Temple Pilots in 2013 between Weiland's stints with the band. He left amicably in 2015 to focus more on his family and his work with Linkin Park. Weiland died about two months after rejoining STP.

"I don't know which hurts more — to watch that over a decade or just the suddenness [of what happened to Chester]," DeLeo said, referring to how little friends and family could have done to prevent either death.

"They're both tragic and an incredible loss," he continued. "When it's all kind of said and done, I'm still scratching my head, man. There are still unanswered questions for me. It just goes beyond words. It's very, very sad."

When news broke last summer of Bennington's death, Stone Temple Pilots was in the midst of an exhaustive, 18-month search for a new lead singer.

In November, the band announced it would indeed carry on, and it would do so with Jeff Gutt as the band's new lead singer.

DeLeo expressed his optimism for Stone Temple Pilots' future.

"Being out playing is an aspect of our lives in STP that we just absolutely love," he told The Sacramento Bee. "We love being out there, playing music and being in a room where everybody is tossing energy around."

The band is on tour now, celebrating the anniversary of its debut album,Core.

STP is also preparing to release a new self-titled full-length album March 16.